COPPER BEECH PTA 2013-2014 HOMEROOM LIAISON HANDBOOK
COPPER BEECH PTA 2013-2014 HOMEROOM LIAISON HANDBOOK Connections/Cooperation/Community and Actions Reward Every Student CB PTA 2013-2014 Homeroom Liaison Handbook Table of Contents Welcome to the Team! ..................................................................................................................................................... 2 Meet the Teacher .............................................................................................................................................................. 2 Introductory Letter .......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Distribution List ............................................................................................................................................................... 3 Email Best Practices ......................................................................................................................................................... 4 PTA Communications ..................................................................................................................................................... 4 PTA Meetings ................................................................................................................................................................... 4 CB PTA Facebook Group ................................................................................................................................................ 5 Spring Fair Support ......................................................................................................................................................... 5 Classroom Parties and Events ........................................................................................................................................ 6 Teacher Gifts ..................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Appendix A: Teacher Letter ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Appendix B: Teacher’s Favorite Things........................................................................................................................ 8 Appendix C: Sample Parent Letter................................................................................................................................ 9 Appendix D: Sample Holiday Gift Collection Letter ................................................................................................ 10 Appendix E: Sample Teacher Appreciation Gift Collection Letter ......................................................................... 11 Appendix F: Teacher Gift Ideas ................................................................................................................................... 12 Appendix G: Contacting the PTA Board .................................................................................................................... 13 1 CB PTA 2013-2014 Homeroom Liaison Handbook Welcome to the Team! Thank you for volunteering to act as the liaison between your child’s teacher and the other parents in that class. The primary responsibilities of a Homeroom Liaison include: Driving PTA membership for the classroom Disseminating PTA communications to parents as needed Encouraging parent participation at PTA events and fundraisers Coordinating classroom parties/events with your child’s teacher Coordinating teacher gift collections Please refer to this handbook for guidance throughout the year and feel free to reach out for help as needed. The PTA Board is always happy to answer your questions. Connie Whiting has been kind enough to step up as our Homeroom Liaison Coordinator again for this year. She is also available to answer any questions you may have. Her contact information is below. Connie Whiting, Homeroom Liaison Coordinator Email: connw@comcast.net Phone: (215) 884-9269 You can also scan our QR Code to reach the PTA directly. Meet the Teacher Please be sure to introduce yourself to your child’s teacher as the Homeroom Liaison as soon as possible. Email them your contact information and confirm the teacher’s expectations regarding classroom parties. What parties should we expect to plan this year (i.e. Halloween, Valentine’s Day, End of the Year)? Should parents plan a craft and/or game for each of these parties? Are there any allergies in the class? Do they have any specific requests regarding food in the classroom? Should you plan to arrange for parent volunteers at the parties? Please feel free to use the Teacher Letter (or a variation of that) in Appendix A to gather information about the teacher’s expectations and hopes for the upcoming classroom parties. You will also find a “Teachers Favorite Things” form in the Appendix that some have used to gather more details about their child’s teacher. This can be very useful when trying to plan for teacher gifts. 2 CB PTA 2013-2014 Homeroom Liaison Handbook Introductory Letter After your discussion with your teacher, the next task on your list as Homeroom Liaison is to send a letter home to all of the parents of your child’s class introducing yourself. A sample letter is provided at the end of this handbook. This letter should contain: Your contact information A description of your role as homeroom liaison A brief summary of the volunteer help that you will need from the other parents A tear-off slip at the bottom requesting the following from each parent: o Email Address o Phone Number o Volunteer Availability After drafting the letter, email it to the classroom teacher so that they can have an opportunity to provide some feedback before you print it up for your class. The teacher may ask that you include some specific information pertaining to volunteer activities in the classroom. This is an important step in establishing open communications with your child’s teacher. If you are sharing the Homeroom Liaison responsibilities with another parent, please work on this letter together and only send one letter home to the other families in the class. Your letter should be sent home to the parents no later than Friday, October 11th. The first big event that the Homeroom Liaisons need to organize will be the Halloween Parade. The sooner you can generate a list of volunteers, the better. Distribution List In order to simplify the communication process and cut down on the amount of letters you will need to print and send home to the families in your class, please put together an email distribution list. Urge all parents to return the slip at the bottom of your introductory letter, regardless of whether or not they will be available to volunteer this year. If you are having problems gathering some of the email addresses for your class, reach out to your classroom teacher and ask for assistance. They have probably already created their own distribution list and may be willing to contact the parents that have not responded to you and ask for permission to share their email address with you. 3 CB PTA 2013-2014 Homeroom Liaison Handbook Email Best Practices Please be considerate of others’ privacy when sending emails to the families in your child’s class. Parents may not want their email address being shared with everyone and we need to respect that. When you email the group, use the BCC field so that no one else sees the email addresses on your list. Also, when sending emails to your distribution list, always include the teacher’s name in the subject line of the message. Many parents have children in different classes in the school. This helps them to keep track of which messages apply to which classroom. Don’t forget to copy your child’s teacher as well. This will help to ensure that we are all on the same page. (The exception to this is when you are trying to organize a surprise gift for the teacher, of course.) PTA Communications As your classroom’s Homeroom Liaison, you will play a critical role in helping to share important PTA messages. Throughout the year, you will be receiving requests from the PTA Board to notify parents about upcoming events, fundraising activities, schedule changes, PTA Meetings, PTA collections, and more. Additionally, at the beginning of every month, you will be emailed an e-Newsletter. When you receive it, please forward it on to the parents on your distribution list. You will also be asked to help drive PTA Membership in your classroom. The class with the highest enrollment percentage in each grade as of November 1st will be rewarded with a PTA sponsored pretzel party. Additionally, at any point in the year, if a class reaches 90% enrollment, the classroom teacher will receive a gift card. Additional copies of the Membership Form are available in the PTA Office. PTA Meetings Every month, the PTA holds a meeting (typically on the second Thursday at 7:30 P.M., although this is subject to change) to give the parents an opportunity to interact directly with the PTA Board, the principle and/or vice principle, a CB teacher, and other administrative staff at the school. This provides parents with an opportunity to hear important news, find out where their help is currently needed, and share in the group discussion. Guest speakers are invited to many of the meetings. While we don’t require Homeroom Liaisons to attend every meeting, it is strongly encouraged. You are the face of the PTA for your child’s classroom and many parents will come to you when they have PTA-related questions. The more informed you are, the better. When you don’t have the answer they need, you can always reach out to any Board member or email us at copperpta@yahoo.com. 4 CB PTA 2013-2014 Homeroom Liaison Handbook CB PTA Facebook Group Please encourage all of the parents in your class that use Facebook to join the CB PTA group. This is proving to be the fastest way to get important messages out to other parents in the school. It is also a great tool for parents to use when seeking advice or CB information. Parents can access the group by navigating to https://www.facebook.com/groups/CBPTA/. The following guidelines have been established to help members understand how this group is to be utilized: Always protect the privacy of others. Do not post any private information (about yourself or any other person) on our Facebook page. Ensure that all of your posts are respectful and considerate. The CB PTA welcomes constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement. No one should feel as though they are being personally attacked by another member of the group. Any post considered obscene, defamatory, profane, libelous, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful or embarrassing to another person or entity will be deleted. Additionally, any person that makes such a post may be blocked from the group. Posts that do not directly relate to the CB PTA may be removed from the group page. Please do not use this group to advertise yard sales, business opportunities, or activities not specifically related to the CB PTA community. Post questions, share helpful information, and connect with other Copper Beech families. This group has been created as a tool to encourage collaboration among the members of our CB community. Spring Fair Support New for 2013-14: Every classroom is going to be assigned a booth for the Spring Fair. The classroom will not be responsible for preparing the booth, just for providing volunteers to work at the booth during the event. As we get closer to spring, we will be asking you to reach out to the families in your class to fill volunteer time slots for your specified booth. There will be at least two classrooms assigned to each booth, so there should only be a need to assign 2-3 volunteers per class. Classes will also be given a theme for their classroom’s Spring Fair basket. You will be asked to arrange for donations for the basket, but will not be required to put the baskets together. More information about this will be available after Winter Break. Mark your calendars now – the Spring Fair is scheduled for Saturday, May 3rd! 5 CB PTA 2013-2014 Homeroom Liaison Handbook Classroom Parties and Events Every teacher has their own way of handling classroom parties, but parents are typically asked to organize parties for the following events: Halloween Valentine’s Day Publishing Center Celebration (K-2) End of the Year Every party/event will need at least one coordinator to put it together. This can be the Homeroom Liaison, but you are encouraged to ask other parents to help out with this role. When two or more parents work together, the task becomes relatively easy to manage. Discuss your plans with the teacher ahead of time, but in most cases parents are asked to send in things like food, paper products, and goodie bags. You will likely need to gather a few volunteers to help out with the event. The coordinator(s) and volunteers may also be asked organize games and/or crafts in the appropriate theme. SignUp Genius is a great tool for managing volunteer lists and arranging for parents to send in supplies for events. Parents will become very familiar with this site because the PTA will be utilizing it for most of our activities this year. If you haven’t already checked it out, visit www.signupgenius.com to get started! Teacher Gifts The teachers at Copper Beech give so much of themselves to their classrooms. It’s important for us to take the time to let them know how much we appreciate all that they do for our children. At different times in the year, it is customary to give the teacher a gift to show them how thankful we all are. These gifts do not have to be expensive. Something handmade by the students may have much more meaning than anything bought in a store. If parents are able to contribute some money towards a gift, classroom supplies and gift cards are always appreciated. Find out what the teacher wants and needs. If there is an aide in the classroom, you may want to put some of the money collected towards a small gift for them as well. The following events make for great opportunities to thank our teachers with a gift: Holidays, End of the Year, and Birthdays. Homeroom Liaisons are not required to give the teachers gifts for those events, but it is encouraged and certainly appreciated. Every Homeroom Liaison is required to put together a gift for Teacher Appreciation Week (usually the 1st week of May). Consider organizing a collection from parents prior to this event, and splitting the money collected between the Teacher Appreciation gift and the End of the Year gift. This way parents are only asked to send in money once and both events are covered. It’s important to note that parents should not be required to contribute money to these collections and should not be asked to donate a specific amount. For some, this may be a hardship. We should ask parents to contribute what they can, but we can’t expect every family to participate financially. The gift should still come from the entire class, regardless of which parents sent in cash. Try to include every student by asking them to make something to include with the gift. For example, every student might send in a handmade card. 6 CB PTA 2013-2014 Homeroom Liaison Handbook Appendix A: Teacher Letter Dear Teachers, Welcome back! We hope you had a great summer. To meet your classroom needs for the year we would like your input before our meeting with classroom liaisons this month. Please take a moment to answer the questions below and return it to the school office as soon as possible. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Teacher name_____________________________________ Grade______________________ Class parties 1. Room parents will plan games yes________ no________ 2. Room parents will bring in food yes________ no________ 3. Room parents will organize crafts yes________ no________ 4. Room parents will give me an agenda for the party a week prior. yes________ no________ 5. Food specifics (i.e. no brownies, peanut butter) _________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. What parties or events would you like room parents to assist you with? _________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Are there food allergies in your class this year? What are they? ______________________________ Gift and Classroom wish list Gift ideas for you Classroom wishes _______________________ __________________________ _______________________ __________________________ _______________________ __________________________ _______________________ __________________________ _______________________ __________________________ Thanks for your time and assistance with this. We are looking forward to another great year! 7 CB PTA 2013-2014 Homeroom Liaison Handbook Appendix B: Teacher’s Favorite Things Teacher's Favorite Things We want to thank you for all that you do for our children. We will try to do this as often as we can, but there are times we like to go that extra step and get you a little something special. This is where we need your help. Please fill out this form so that we can surprise you with the things you really like. Thank you! My Birthday is: Candy: Snack: 3 Stores: 3 Restaurants: Fast Food: Dessert: Cold Drink: Hot Drink: Color: Flower: Pets: Sports Team: Way to Relax: Hobby: Music/Artist: Thank you for sharing yourself!!!! 8 CB PTA 2013-2014 Homeroom Liaison Handbook Appendix C: Sample Parent Letter Dear Parents, Hello! My name is Jen Hurley (Ewan’s mom) and I am very excited to introduce myself as Mrs. Schuyler’s parent liaison this school year. I am looking forward to helping out and making this year a success for our students and their wonderful teacher. As parents, we can help Mrs. Schuyler with a variety of activities throughout the year. I will be coordinating that help, but I can’t do it without you. Primarily, parents are asked to help with the Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and the End of the Year parties. There may also be a need for assistance with other events and activities, including the Publishing Center Celebration at the end of the year. I am also here to act as a liaison between the parents of Mrs. Schuyler’s class and the PTA. If you have any PTA related questions, please feel free to contact me. If I don’t have the answers for you, I will make sure I find out who does. Please complete the bottom portion of this letter and return it to me as soon as possible so that I can add you to my distribution list. If you think you will be available to help out with any of our upcoming events, please check the appropriate boxes below. If you’re not sure of your availability at this time, please return the form anyway so that I can keep you informed of the specific event details, teacher gift collections, and other PTA news. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at (215) 885-1450 or email me at jhurley830@comcast.net. Thanks in advance for all of your help! It’s going to be a great year! - Jen Hurley Name: _______________________________________ Phone #(s): _________________________________ Email: ____________________________________________ Please check all that apply: I’d like to: Coordinate Send in Something Come in to help Halloween Party Valentine’s Day Party Publishing Center Celebration End of the Year Party Please return to Jen Hurley (Homeroom Liaison – Mrs. Schuyler – Grade 2) Please include your name and the teacher/grade on the slip at the bottom of your letter. Sometimes these forms are mistakenly sent to the PTA Office. 9 CB PTA 2013-2014 Homeroom Liaison Handbook Appendix D: Sample Holiday Gift Collection Letter December 1, 2012 Dear Parents, The holidays are quickly approaching! Let’s make sure that we don’t forget to show our appreciation for all that Mrs. Schuyler does for our children by pulling our resources together and getting her a nice holiday gift. During the next two weeks, I will be collecting donations for her group gift. All donations are voluntary and any contribution is welcome. I have already purchased four of the titles that Mrs. Schuyler included in her Wish List at the Book Fair. I’d like to group them with a few more classroom supplies and a gift card to one of her favorite stores or restaurants. I would also like to include a handmade card from each of the students. Please help your child to create a card for Mrs. Schuyler and return it in this same envelope. Include your donation, if applicable, and mark the envelope Jen Hurley. Please return this envelope no later than Friday, December 14th. Again, your contribution is entirely voluntary, but I would really appreciate it if every child created a card for Mrs. Schuyler. Thank you for your participation. Happy Holidays! Jen Hurley Homeroom Liaison, 2-Schuyler jhurley830@comcast.net 10 CB PTA 2013-2014 Homeroom Liaison Handbook Appendix E: Sample Teacher Appreciation Gift Collection Letter Hi Parents! As many of you are aware, Teacher Appreciation Week begins on May 6th. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to show Mrs. Schuyler just how much she means to all of us. I’m planning to visit the classroom and have the students help me make her a handmade gift in the next few weeks. I’m still working out the details, but I will be sure to send along pictures as soon as it’s finished. I’d like to include a gift card (or a few gift cards) to go along with our handmade present. If you are able to make a contribution to go towards the purchase, I would greatly appreciate the help. Any amount would be wonderful. Half of the funds contributed will be used for this gift and the other half will be used towards an end-of-theyear gift for Mrs. Schuyler. This way parents won’t be asked to send in two separate contributions. Please return the bottom portion of this form with your contribution no later than Tuesday, April 30th. Checks are acceptable, but please make them out to Jennifer Hurley. Be sure to make a note on the envelope that this is to go to Jen Hurley. Details will be coming soon about our Publishing Center and End-of-the-Year Parties. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Thank you for all of your support this year! Jen Hurley Homeroom Liaison, 2-Schuyler jhurley830@comcast.net Please return this form to Jen Hurley (2-Schuyler) by Tuesday, April 30th Parent Name: _________________________________ Phone Number: _________________________________ Email Address: _________________________________ Contribution Amount: $_____________ ☐ I am interested in volunteering during the Publishing Center and/or End-of-the-Year Parties. Please contact me with the details as soon as they are available. ☐ I am available to send in supplies for the Publishing Center and/or End-of-the-Year Parties. Please contact me with the details as soon as they are available. 11 CB PTA 2013-2014 Homeroom Liaison Handbook Appendix F: Teacher Gift Ideas Below is a list of gift suggestions. You are welcome to use any of these ideas or come up with some new ideas of your own. Gift Baskets – Some popular themes for gift baskets include Classroom Supplies, Relaxation (this could include a gift certificate for a massage, a box of relaxation teas, and a gift card to a bookstore or coffee shop), Fruit Basket, Chocolate Basket, Movie Night (this could include snacks, popcorn, a fuzzy blanket, and a gift card to a store that sells movies), and Summer Beach Basket (this could include a colorful beach towel, sunscreen, sunglasses, flip flops, summer snacks, and a gift card to a bookstore). Books – The CB PTA Book Fair will be held in November. This is a great time to stock up on some books to include in a gift basket for your child’s teacher. When you come to the Book Fair, check the Teacher’s Wish Lists board. This is the perfect way to find out exactly what your child’s teacher is hoping to get. At the same time, you will also be helping to raise money for the PTA. A Giving Tree – Create a small fake tree from supplies at the craft store and hang gift cards for various stores on all of the branches. This could also be done as a Gift Card Bouquet. Thumbprint Tree – Draw, paint, or print out a template of a tree with no leaves. Have each student add a green thumbprint as a leaf on the tree. Make sure the year and the grade are on the front and frame it for the teacher. Memory Book Class DVD Class Cookbook – Ask each family to pick their favorite recipe and add the details to a recipe – Have each student create one page to go into the Memory Book. Ask them to include a picture, a drawing, and a note to the teacher. Put them all together in a three-ring binder. You can even decorate the cover of the book with a collage of pictures from the school year. Remember to bring your camera with you to special events in the classroom. – For those with the necessary hardware and software, a Class DVD is an excellent gift for any teacher. Ask your child’s teacher if you could come in one day and work with a few of the children at a time in the hallway on a project. Set up a video camera in the hallway and interview the children in groups about their favorite things from the school year. Put the interviews together to make a video, and then burn that video to a DVD to give to the teacher. page that will go into a class cookbook. Ask the families to include a picture of the student (maybe even while they’re working on the recipe!) and have the child rate the recipe. This could even be included as part of a gift basket with a cooking theme. Please feel free to share any other ideas that you may have for great gifts. Send your ideas along to Connie Whiting at connw@comcast.net and she will share them with the group. There are lots of resources online as well. Here is a great site that was suggested by another parent: http://www.class-parties.com/ 12 CB PTA 2013-2014 Homeroom Liaison Handbook Appendix G: Contacting the PTA Board Any time you have questions, you can always email the PTA Board at copperpta@yahoo.com or reach out to any of the following Board members: Nicole Gesing .................... President ................................... the_gesings@msn.com ....................... (215) 887-8482 Christine Strange .............. President-Elect ......................... chris_strange@comcast.net ............... (215) 572-6995 Steve Specht ....................... First Vice President .................. fdmed7@yahoo.com........................... (215) 380-9219 Jennifer Hurley .................. Second Vice President ............. jhurley830@comcast.net .................... (215) 885-1450 Wendy Kaye ...................... Third Vice President ................ aidankayesmom@comcast.net .......... (215) 572-1425 Louann Marinucci............. Recording Secretary................. marinucci2@verizon.net .................... (215) 887-8587 Claire Hays-Noonan ......... Corresponding Secretary ........ haysc@comcast.net ............................. (215) 885-8683 Courtney Clark.................. Treasurer ................................... eclynch@hotmail.com ........................ (215) 663-1290 Ashley Brunetti ................. Volunteer Coordinator ............ mattysmom114@yahoo.com ............. (215) 837-4640 13
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